Law aimed at curbing ear-piercing 'tin noise' in French Quarter, CBD is passed by City Council

New rules of engagement in the decades-old French Quarter noise wars were laid down Wednesday as the New Orleans City Council approved the "loudspeaker ordinance" requiring businesses in the historic neighborhood and the Central Business District to move speakers away from open doors and windows. Councilwoman Kristin Gisleson Palmer, who for the past month has shepherded the measure through a sometimes-contentious legislative process, heralded the move as a way to turn down the volume on proprietors who lure customers by blaring "tin noise" onto Bourbon Street and elsewhere, often drowning out street musicians and the city's famed jazz and brass bands.

View full sizeTed Jackson, Times-Picayune archiveA band cranks out entertainment for tourists in front of the Presbytere with amplified music, using a deep-cycle battery and a 1000-watt inverter to power the amps, in January, 2011.

In giving their unanimous support, City Council members dismissed opponents' argument that the initiative, which hinges not on volume but how close a speaker sits to an open door or window, would kill the party atmosphere that draws millions of tourists to the city every year.

"Our authentic culture did not begin in Congo Square with woofers, nor did Louis Armstrong or Louis Prima or our Mardi Gras Indians or our street musicians have amplifiers with the ability to shake the walls and blow out surrounding music," Palmer said. "To those who state this could kill the culture, years of neglect of our city couldn't, Katrina couldn't and having a speaker placed 10 feet inside a door cannot."

Responding to last-minute concerns about the law's impact on amplified music in courtyards, Palmer and Councilwoman Stacy Head, who in recent days signed on as a co-author, agreed to defer for at least 90 days the implementation of a section that would require City Hall to continue to grant special permission for the placement of speakers in unenclosed spaces.

The council also clarified that the rules don't apply to permanently shuttered doors and windows.

Mayor Mitch Landrieu's spokesman on Thursday called the measure "a good first step" but added that the administration has "serious concerns about creating more bureaucracy through an administrative variance process" to allow courtyard speakers.

"We commit to working with the council to make sure these regulations are enforceable and do not have unintended consequences," spokesman Ryan Berni said.

Despite the concerns, Landrieu will not veto the measure, Berni said, meaning it will become law April 15.

Under the ordinance, bars and restaurants that serve alcohol would be required to keep loudspeakers 10 feet or more from any doors and windows that are open to the outdoors. For establishments without a liquor license, the gap would be 20 feet. In both cases, sound could not be projected from the back of a speaker, and the state fire marshal could grant exemptions to allow doors and windows to remain open.

Owners, managers, disc jockeys and anyone named on the business's occupational license would be on the hook for violations, which include a $500 fine per infraction plus court-sanctioned penalties.

The council approved the measure over the objections of two lawyers with interests in the French Quarter. Robert Watters of the Bourbon Street Business Alliance, who drafted an early version of the ordinance, asked the council to put off a vote so all parties could confirm their understanding of several 11th-hour amendments, including some that were added after the start of Thursday's council meeting.

"Good legislation is like gumbo. It's best cooked slowly," Watters said. "We have a gumbo that I'm afraid somebody said, 'I forgot the roux, so I think we're going to use a little bit of brown food coloring.'"

Meanwhile, attorney Chris Young asserted that two sections of the ordinance -- one that deals with the direction speakers face, and another mandating their distance from doors and windows -- are contradictory. A vote on the matter should be postponed, he argued, until the supposed problem could be rectified.

Head didn't buy it. "I hope that people aren't feigning confusion for the purposes for future litigation, because this is a very clear and simple and easily understood ordinance," she said.

Describing the new rules as "easy to measure and feasible to enforce," Brian Furness of the advocacy group French Quarter Citizens called them "a significant step forward in addressing excessive noise that has long plagued the resident, business and visitor communities alike."

Meg Lousteau of the Vieux Carre Property Owners, Residents and Associates said the law is a good first step toward alleviating an environment that "has gotten completely out of control," despite a slew of laws already on the books that govern the type and volume of noise allowed in all corners of the city -- some of them down to the decibel.

Palmer's initiative followed the recent acquittal of a Bourbon Street bar that had been cited by the New Orleans Police Department for violating a long-standing ordinance that prohibits the use of loudspeakers for the purpose of "attracting the attention of the public to any building, structure, or vehicle."

The anti-volume group Hear the Music, Stop the Noise heaped praise on the police for the move. But a Municipal Court judge ruled in the bar's favor after its attorney argued that the city code isn't clear and that the citation amounted to selective enforcement in an environment where music blares day and night on virtually every block.